Prezi

http://prezi.com/hxsmmxtsbeyi/present/?auth_key=ds6w5gx&follow=yjqc7hh8bxe_

This is the link to my Prezi Presentation. Although I have seen some great Prezi presentations, I have to say that I am not the best at creating one. This is my second time using Prezi and I still find it quite confusing to use!

Review/Reflection

1. Review and reflect on the following

• the syllabus- I found the syllabus to be very helpful. Everything was laid out in a very organized manner. This made it very easy to review assignments and requirements such as due dates. Furthermore, I think that the description of the projects and assignments were also very informative and helpful in terms of knowing exactly what was expected. Moreover, I found the assignments to be a worthwhile experience. They were all great in terms of gaining experience with the different tools and resources and how they can connect to language arts. 
• the work you have produced this semester on Blackboard and on Blog- I am very proud of the work that I have produced this semester on Blackboard and on Blog. All the assignments incorporated something that I had either never worked on before (such as BookBuilder) or never completed before. I think the assignments were very effective and I really enjoyed completing them. I think they were very helpful in learning about language arts and technology. They were all a great learning experience.
• the discussion and conversation you had with peers and ELA teachers- Throughout this course I have had many conversations with my peers and ELA teachers. It was very interesting to get their take on some of the topics we have talked about, such as blogging in the classroom. Each person seemed to have their own beliefs and each one made valid points. It was also very helpful to see how each of them incorporated the new literacies into their curriculum and classroom. Again, I found it very helpful to talk to my peers and ELA teachers, it was a good learning experience and has given me many ideas on how I can incorporate new literacies into my classroom in the future. 

Foundational Print and New Literacies

Foundational Print and New Literacies

Literacy is something that all students must learn. It is something that we are emerged in from the time we are born. Literacy surrounds us in a multitude of ways. This is something that has not changed. However, the style in which we learn literacy skills has changed, and will continue to change.

It used to be that literacy was taught simply through the foundational print, ie: books. The students would first learn phonics, decoding strategies, sight words, comprehension, etc. These are all essential skills. Now, however, the skills reach far and wide beyond these foundational print literacy. We now have new literacies, which incorporates the new ways in which students are learning literacy skills.

New literacies place a heavy emphasis on technology. Technology has become a necessity. We use technology in our daily lives. Students are presented with various new forms of technology from a very early age. For this reason, new literacies is very important to teach the appropriate literacy skills that students may come across.

New literacies are a variety of technological literacies, such as blogging. Blogging has become one of the biggest technological platform. Many teachers are now incorporating blogging into their curriculum. Students seem to really love this idea. It still teaches them the necessary skills (writing, reading, research, presentation, etc.) while incorporating new literacy. It motivates them to not only complete the assignment but also to learn more about the topic at hand.

Overall, foundational print literacy and new literacies have the same goal in mind. However, just as the times are changing, we have to change as well. A much bigger emphasis has been put on technology, and we must, therefore, do the same in order to stay current. Although, this does not by any means suggest that we should do away with foundational print. I think the combination and balance of the two is essential and effective. 

Implementation Report

1. Outcomes of the implementation: The website (www.starfall.com) proved to be very effective in enhancing students’ phonics and reading skills as an addition to their reading groups. During each reading group period, students were directed to the website to practice selected skills and tasks that they needed more experience with. Furthermore, their learning motivation was highly increased by using this website as they were attracted and interested in its layout. Also, there were very intrigued by the BookBuilder project and were excited to write every day. This is a big step since many students were reluctant to write previously. Throughout the lesson, there was no problem with the technology.

2. Accommodations: Since this was an inclusion class, several students had various needs that were a priority to meet. For these students, the teacher and teacher assistant worked one on one with them. For the website, the students were shown step by step what to do. They then completed an activity with the help of their peers for further support. Moreover, for the BookBuilder project, students with writing problems were allowed to type their sentences in the initial stages of creating the book instead of handwriting them. They were also given sentence starters to aid them in writing their sentence.

3. Classroom Management: This was a class that I sub in very frequently. For this reason I was very familiar with the classroom management and did not have to make any adjustments as I planned accordingly based on my familiarity with them.

4. Questions asked by students: The most frequently asked questions that students asked were: “Why are we going on the computer for reading groups?” and “How are we going to make a book online, don’t we need paper?” All the teachers involved were quite amused by these questions. The students had never gone on the computer in reading groups before, so this was a new experience for them. Once they completed the activity on the website they seemed to understand the concept of it all a bit more. The second question was one we received many times throughout the process. They just couldn’t seem to understand how we could create a book without using paper and pencil. Once they were taken through the process that absolutely loved it and have since asked to make another one.

5.  Problems students encountered during the process: One of the problems that students encountered during the implementation was collaborating on the book. Each group was given a story started and then each student was asked to write two sentences based on the story starter. In the beginning, students had a hard time agreeing on the order the sentences should go in and other layout issues. In order to solve this problem I assigned them each numbers in which their sentences would come in the book. This seemed to solve the problem.

6. Decisions: I was surprised by how smoothly this implementation actually went. There were no real issues or need to make a crucial decision on the spot. The only decisions that really had to be made was time management as some groups required more time than others. In this case, I set up the groups in order to accommodate for each of their time management needs and helped those along who needed more guidance.

7. Feedback from students: In the beginning the students were unsure of what was going to happen since it was new to them. However, after the implementation they were all very excited. Most of the students wanted to know when they would be able to create another book on BookBuilder. There were, however, a couple students who needed more help on www.starfall.com than others. These students found it a bit more difficult, but with appropriate assistance they were able to do it and seemed to enjoy it once they were helped.

8. Timeframe: As stated before, this was a class that I sub in very frequently. Thus, I could plan appropriately for timing. There was enough time to complete the lesson as I had planned for. 

Interview with ELA teacher

Interview with ELA Teacher

I found my interview with the language arts teacher to be very interesting. Although she was very familiar with the new literacies, she  stated that she was not able to incorporate it into her classroom the way she wished. This was due to lack of accessible technology. She understood the new literacies and how important it was to be able to incorporate it into the curriculum, however. Her room was only equipped with a laptop (which was extremely slow and was not effective to use appropriately), an old smartboard (which did not work properly so it was used as a projector screen instead), and an ELMO. However, I give this teacher a lot of credit for trying to implement the new literacies as best as should could, dealing with what she was given. On days that it is possible, she will take the class to the computer lab, allowing them to use the interactive technologies they are not able to do in the classroom. The students seem to really enjoy computer lab days. She finds the new literacies to not only be effective but also motivating for the students to learn more. In the future she hopes to have the technology in her classroom that will allow her to effectively incorporate new literacies in her curriculum on a daily basis. 

Keystone Project Lesson

Keystone Project

1.            Subject: ELA - using www.starfall .com to enhance students’ phonics learning and Book Builder to create a book as the final project.

2.            Grade level: 1

3.            Standards addressed:

Common Core ELA

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

•       RL.1.7. Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Print Concepts

•       RF.1.1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

                  Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

 ISTE technology standards

•   Communication & Collaboration

•   Creativity & Innovation

•   Technology Operations

4.            The website www.starfall.com will be used throughout the lessons of the unit plan to supplement their reading skills. This is a great way to integrate technology while meeting the needs of every student. This website allows the teacher to select different books and options based on the students needs. In this particular case the teacher will use this website during reading groups and assign a particular book and section to each group based upon each group’s readability level and needs. The teacher requested technology to incorporate during reading groups because many of the students were not motivated by reading book after book. The use of technology here motivates these students to learn. This is also the case in creating a book on Book Builder as the final project. The students will create their own book in each of their groups. The teacher will work one on one with each of the groups to create their book on Book Builder. This is also a great motivator for the students to both read and write while integrating technology.

5.            The teacher will need a computer with internet access in order to implement these technologies. The only training that will be needed would be to create a book on Book Builder since the teacher is not familiar with this. This can be completed in a one hour professional development session.

6.            Requirements: A computer with Internet access in the classroom or computer lab.

7.            Evaluation plan: I will use a checklist as well as a survey to make sure that my training meets the goals, needs, and objectives. The checklist will be filled out by myself and the survey will be filled out by the teacher.  The survey will provide information of what the teacher expects to gain from the training in order for me to appropriately plan what to plan and teach. Moreover, the students will be evaluated, using a rubric, based upon their writing and presentation for the BookBuilder project.

Internet Workshop Model

Step 1- The site one the internet that relates to the classroom unit of instruction is www.starfall.com  This website will be bookmarked for the students to easily access it.

Step 2- Activity- The teacher will use this website during reading groups and assign a particular book and section to each group based upon each group’s readability level and needs. The students will be directed to a computer, with the website bookmarked and complete the assigned book/section. As a final project to this unit the groups will create a book on Book Builder, under the direction of the teacher. The groups will be given a story starter (such as: My favorite things, Things I do at school, etc). Each group will receive a different story starter.  

Step 3- Once each group has been assigned a story stated the teacher will work one on one with each group to write the book. They will then also work together to create the Bookbuilder project.   

Step 4- At the end of the unit, students will share their BookBuilder projects with the class.

Rubric

	3	2	1	0
Participation	The student actively participated in the creation and presentation	The student participated in the creation and presentation	The student only participated in the creation or presentation	The student did not participate in the creation or presentation
Writing	The student wrote at least 2 correct sentences for the book.	The student wrote 1 correct sentence for the book.	The student wrote at least one sentence but had some errors.	The student did not write any sentences.
Collaboration	The student effectively collaborated with peers.	The student collaborated with peers but needed less than two reminders.	The student collaborated with peers but needed more than two reminders.	The student did not collaborate with peers.
Presentation	The student spoke loud and clear, using correct language.	The student spoke clear and used correct language.	The student did not speak clearly.	The student did not help with the presentation.